


The Kids Will Be Okay

by problematiquefave



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 13:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14750015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/problematiquefave/pseuds/problematiquefave
Summary: Troy isn't good with a lot of things. Being helpless and expressing his emotions are near the top of that list.





	The Kids Will Be Okay

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: “I can take care of myself.” 
> 
> Still accepting prompts from [this list](https://problematiquefics.tumblr.com/post/174214754550/nearly-200-writing-prompts-feel-free-to-reblog) on my [tumblr](https://problematiquefics.tumblr.com/). Comments are greatly appreciated.

The morning sun is still low on the horizon, just barely above the tree line, but it’s already shaping up to be a warm day. The apocalypse has put an end to global warming but that doesn’t mean July in Mexico isn’t hot as hell. They’d stopped to camp at a roadside hotel two days ago, only meaning to spend a night but things rarely went as planned in this world.

It's frustrating for Troy. It isn’t his fault – Nick insists that and he's was right. It links back to the dam, when Madison had cracked open his skull with her hammer and nearly killed him. He's lucky to have even survived but it hasn’t been without side effects.

The migraines are what he deals with most. They strike when they want – which was frequent – and last anywhere from a couple hours to a couple days. Sometimes he’;; go a stretch without them and other times they’ll hit back to back. It isn’t just his head that hurts; his stomach rumbles with nausea and the light and sound makes it a ten times worse. Yet those are easy to live with. He might be miserable but he can still protect himself. No, those aren’t what caused the delay.

It was a seizure.

Even though they rarely last longer than a minute or two, it's a minute or two where he's entirely helpless – and then a few hours of foggy confusion. He has a brief warning, one that's easy to overlook in a stressful situation, that is followed shortly by a seizure. He’d gotten the metallic taste in his mouth when they were about to leave and only had time enough to tell Nick what was about to happen before it did.

Nick is good about it. He takes good care of him when they happen – ‘karma,’ the younger man will joke, ‘for all the times Alicia and mom had to take care of me when I was going through withdrawal and had them.’ He also gets extremely protective of Troy after he has one. It was Nick’s decision to stay longer after Troy’s seizure the other day even after Troy had said it was okay to leave. He appreciates the concern but he isn’t used to it – he hates that it makes him feel weak and he hates that he feels that way.

And those feelings come to a head when Nick asks him, “are you okay to drive?”

Troy shoots a glare at him as he loads the last of their supplies into their truck. “I can take care of myself.”

A sigh escapes Nick. “That’s not what I asked,” he replies, leaning against the side of the truck. “Do you need me to drive?”

“And kill us both? No thanks,” Troy grumbles, slamming shut the gate to the truck bed. He glances at the ground around them, making sure he hasn’t forgotten anything. Affirming that he hasn’t, he fishes the keys out of his pocket. “I can drive.”

Before he can walk away, a hand clamps down on his forearm. Troy looks over his shoulder, eyes narrowing as he meet Nick’s gaze.

“Talk to me,” he says. “What’s wrong?”

“ _Nothing_.” Then, before Nick can respond, he adds, “I just want to get out of here.” Jerking his arm out of his grip, Troy walks around the side of the truck and hops in the driver seat. He taps his fingers against the steering wheel as he waits for Nick to get in.

The door opens but Nick doesn’t get in. Instead, he places his elbows on the seat and leans over, pinning Troy with a serious look. “It’s not nothing and we’re not going anywhere until you talk to me. Now, do you want some time or do you want to do this now?”

Troy looks away, staring unseeingly out the windshield as he squeezes the steering wheel. But, after a minute, his shoulders relax and he sighs. “I just hate being helpless.” He doesn’t look over at Nick and he doesn’t give the younger man a chance to speak before he continues. It’s hard to get the words out, unfamiliar with being so honest with his emotions, but this is Nick. He won’t use this against him – either to hurt him or manipulate him. “I know it’s not my fault. I know that I can’t change this. I know that you don’t mind. I know all of that but I  _hate_ this. I hate being weak.”

“You’re not weak,” Nick says. Troy looks over at him, meeting his eyes. His expression is soft. “You’re not helpless. You’re one of the strongest people I know – one of the craziest too but that’s not the point.” He says the last bit with a small chuckle. Troy’s lips twitch. “I love you and I worry about you. I don’t want to lose you. Not again.”

He swallows, searching Nick’s expression for something he doesn’t understand. All he finds is sincerity and while it doesn’t fix it – it’s going to take more than a couple of heartfelt talks to deal with his issues – it helps.

“I love you too.”


End file.
